ArticleEBioMedicine2019
Application of new host biomarker profiles in quantitative point-of-care tests facilitates leprosy diagnosis in the field.
Article in EBioMedicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Predictive Role of Biomarkers for Leprosy Prophylaxis in Contacts of Patients Who Are Indices of the Disease: A Systematic Review of the Literature.Mediators of inflammation · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Accuracy of rapid point-of-care serological tests for leprosy diagnosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz · 2022Pooled it
- Accuracy of seven GPS-based geolocation techniquesBMJ open · 2026Article
- Advancing leprosy risk prediction through identification of a whole blood host transcriptomic biomarker signature including non-coding genes.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Anti-phenolic glycolipid antibodies inOne health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Article
- The Epidemiological Impact of Community-Based Skin Camps on Leprosy Control in East Hararghe Zone, Ethiopia: a Modelling Study.Journal of epidemiology and global health · 2025Article
- Large-scale field application of a fingerstick blood test for Mycobacterium leprae infection: Monitoring population-wide effects of case finding and post-exposure prophylaxis on transmission in the Comoros and Madagascar.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Immune mediators as plasma biomarkers for identifying household contacts and classifying clinical forms and leprosy reactions.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Rapid test for Mycobacterium leprae infection: a practical tool for leprosy.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2024Article
- Leprosy.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2024Review
- Molecular and Serological Surveillance forAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Sequential trypsin and ProAlanase digestions unearth immunological protein biomarkers shrouded by skeletal collagen.iScience · 2024Article
- Different profiles of chemokines, cytokines and cell growth factors in plasma samples from patients with leprosy, leprosy reactions and households contacts.Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz · 2024Article
- Host biomarker-based quantitative rapid tests for detection and treatment monitoring of tuberculosis and COVID-19.iScience · 2023Article
- Interplay among differential exposure toFrontiers in immunology · 2023Article
- Reaching those at risk: Active case detection of leprosy and contact tracing at Kokosa, a hot spot district in Ethiopia.PloS one · 2023Article
- Development of lateral flow assays to detect host proteins in cattle for improved diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2023Article
- Field-friendly anti-PGL-I serosurvey in children to monitorFrontiers in medicine · 2023Article
- Protein Levels of Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines and Chemokines as Biomarkers ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTransmission of Mycobacterium leprae, the pathogen causing leprosy, is still persistent. To facilitate timely (prophylactic) treatment and reduce transmission it is vital to both early diagnose leprosy, and identify infected individuals lacking clinical symptoms. However, leprosy-specific biomarkers are limited, particularly for paucibacillary disease. Therefore, our objective was to identify new biomarkers for leprosy and assess their applicability in point-of-care (POC) tests.
methodsUsing multiplex-bead-arrays, 60 host-proteins were measured in a cross-sectional approach in 24-h whole blood assays (WBAs) collected in Bangladesh (79 patients; 54 contacts; 51 endemic controls (EC)). Next, 17 promising biomarkers were validated in WBAs of a separate cohort (55 patients; 27 EC). Finally, in a third cohort (36 patients; 20 EC), five candidate markers detectable in plasma were assessed for application in POC tests.
findingsThis study identified three new biomarkers for leprosy (ApoA1, IL-1Ra, S100A12), and confirmed five previously described biomarkers (CCL4, CRP, IL-10, IP-10, αPGL-I IgM). Overnight stimulation in WBAs provided increased specificity for leprosy and was required for IL-10, IL-1Ra and CCL4. The remaining five biomarkers were directly detectable in plasma, hence suitable for rapid POC tests. Indeed, lateral flow assays (LFAs) utilizing this five-marker profile detected both multi- and paucibacillary leprosy patients with variable immune responses.
interpretationApplication of novel host-biomarker profiles to rapid, quantitative LFAs improves leprosy diagnosis and allows POC testing in low-resource settings. This platform can thus aid diagnosis and classification of leprosy and also provides a tool to detect M.leprae infection in large-scale contact screening in the field.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.